The invention relates to the field of electronic devices of any size, in particular devices comprising a screen, such as telephones, multimedia players and/or recorders, portable computers, “tablet” type computers, television sets, etc.
Manufacturers of electronic devices are constantly looking to reduce the size of the devices in each of their dimensions, in particular their thickness. They are also seeking to make the surfaces of the elements constituting the front face of the devices approximately coplanar. Moreover, manufacturers are looking for solutions to reduce costs both in terms of materials costs and in terms of manufacturing costs.
Solutions that make it possible to obtain a streamlined appearance and maximize the surface of the screen on the front face are particularly sought after. This relates to portable electronic devices but also to non-portable devices such as for example computer screens and flat-screen television sets designed to be mounted on a wall, which can reach sizes of 40 diagonal inches and more.
Standard solutions for producing housings from plastic material are known, these result in thick housings. Solutions are also known for producing housings from sheet metal or also from injected metal, these result in relatively expensive housings and require non-standard solutions to make the surfaces of the screen and front face coplanar. Patent application US 2004/102230 moreover discloses a solution using elements made of plastic material and metal elements. The known combined solutions are complicated to implement and expensive in terms of equipment.